Dining Section Roundup: 10.19.05

Ah, sweet relief. The Dining Section in this week's New York Times was a Dining In rather than a Dining Out. Perhaps the food staff over at the Grey Lady finally heard our pleas. Enough with the restaurants... let's talk about food. The kind we make, the kind that gets our hands dirty. The kind we giggle over with friends. Finally, this week's coverage wasn't all about the restuarant industry. Enough already.

But let's get one thing straight. The cover shot of Rachael Ray was horrid.

Kim Severson writes a story, Being Rachael Ray: How Cool Is That?, that is both flattering condescending. "In a way, Ms. Ray's success is like that of a surfer floating in the right spot just as the wave of a lifetime comes by," is a rather back-handed compliment. But basically the vive is upbeat. So come on photo editors, what were you thinking with the photo? With an empire like Ms. Ray's (4.5 million books in print, $6 million contract with Clarkson Potter, four shows on the Food Network...), maybe some people are just a little jealous.

We thought Ms. Ray defended herself with grace when she said "I never said I was the greatest thing ever, I just think people should be able to cook even I they don't have a bunch of time or money." Well put, sister.

To accompany Eric Asimov's Wines of the Times Column, this week titled Loire Reds Liked It Hot, Florence Fabricant offers a lip-smacking pairing with Swiss Chard Timbales. That solves what's-for-dinner-tonight? And at $10/bottle, we'll go ahead and try the 2003 Sauvion Bourgueil Callée de la Loire, just for kicks.